Meet
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: ·Noblesse/Youkai Ningen Bem (2011)· Tao's up on the rooftops and meets an unexpected person.


**Summary**: Tao's up on the rooftops and meets an unexpected person.

Set somewhere between the end of season two and the beginning of season four for Noblesse; set post-series for Youkai Ningen Bem.

Overuse of italics. Like that's a surprise. ORZ

...Yeah, no longer care about titles, auuuuugh.

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**************Meet **

By Dark Ice Dragon

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It was a cloudless night and Tao hummed to himself as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, just enjoying the view and the freedom of his movement. It had been a quiet last couple of weeks and he revelled in it, enjoying his time with the children, doing whatever he felt like and dragging Takeo and M-21 along for the ride. It wasn't going to last (it never would; they somehow just attracted all the weirdness) but until then, he was going to enjoy every last second of it.

He grinned when he caught the familiar flash of silver and he changed direction to greet M-21. Except Tao paused when he completed a jump, tilting his head at the silver-haired person, because now that he was paying attention, Tao could easily see they weren't M-21. M-21 never wore a hat, for a start, and he didn't wear a scarf either. Under the hat, their hair was slightly longer than M-21's, tied together in a loose ponytail at the base of their neck. Tao continued to study the stranger, frowning slightly (he'd had too much experience of people who hung out on rooftops were usually someone they had to fight sooner or later). Their suit wasn't as form fitting as his own, and this close, Tao could see that it was a bit ratty-looking, the hems well-worn; it was obviously something that had been used for years.

Hmm. Well, there was one sure way of finding out if the other guy was friendly or not. Shooting off a text to the others just in case, Tao slapped on his usual grin, making as much noise as he could.

The other man whirled around instantly, ducking his head, one hand reaching up to make sure his hat was on properly. It was a gesture Tao could recognise after all the years at the Union, little habits ingrained to make sure you still looked like you should, that you weren't accidently showing something you shouldn't. Which confirmed there was something different about the man, but Tao also knew the Union wouldn't have sent anyone out with clothes that weren't new, so. A possible escaped experiment?

And if _that _was true…

Tao's grin turned a bit more natural.

"It's a nice night," he started conversationally, leisurely making his way towards the man, just in case he spooked him. And it was a good thing too, because it looked like the other man was half-a-second from jumping off the building if he went any faster.

"_A-ah, I'm sorry, but I don't understand you._" The man's face was wider than M-21's, his eyes darker (and it wasn't often that Tao saw that kind of wide-eyed startled look on M-21's face), and there wasn't a scar going across his lips either.

Tao blinked and it took him a second to recognise the language as Japanese. Huh. All Union agents were taught the basics of the language of the country they were about to be sent to so him not knowing… It was a puzzle that only intrigued Tao more.

It took Tao a bit to remember the correct words to use. "_You don't know any Korean, huh?_" And Tao wasn't gleefully considering how to teach him, because he still didn't even know the guy's name, or if the guy wanted to learn it, let alone from him.

There was a peek under the hat's rim before the other man shook his head, but the other man did relax a little bit, bringing his hand down slowly.

"_Heh, it's fine – it's been a while since I spoke any Japanese though, but you can understand me, can't you?_"

He was answered with a nod this time, the other man peering at him cautiously.

"_So, what's your name?_" Tao asked.

"_Bem_." There was a pause, and then cautiously: "_What is your name?_"

"_Tao_," he said, bowing slightly. Tao kept his hands out when he straightened, his body language open, trying to appear as friendly as possible. Under the man's hat, his hair was reminiscent to M-21's and Tao was struck with the thought of M-21 having a long lost brother in the world. With the Union involved, it was entirely possible.

There was a dip of the head as a reply. A brother who was as talkative as _him_.

Tao was opening his mouth to ask another question when a high-pitched shriek pierced the air. Bem's head snapped around to where it had come from and Tao only had enough time to blink and then Bem was gone, leaping straight off the rooftop.

Tao wondered if Bem thought himself a superhero as he shook his head and sprinted after him.

It wasn't hard to find the source of the scream and Tao could hear some sort of _sucking_ sound, a hiss in the air, and then Bem's footfalls sounded _very _different from what it had been before. A will-induced transformation or a drug-induced one? It wasn't hard to hear the deep-throated roar and the answering panicked shouting that came a second after, a man scrambling out the of a dark alleyway. Tao landed just before he exited and let him run past him, seeing enough that he wasn't an enhanced human - now to find out what Bem had done...

Tao whistled, his eyebrows rising at the sight in front of him. There was a woman laying limp on the ground, a transformed human hovering over her. It was a transformation that was more extensive than his or Takeo's - cosmetically, their skin turned a dark blue when they took the D-drug, and Kranz had gained some muscle mass, but this... Everything from the shape of Bem's head, to the cluster of spikes on his shoulders, to his height was different - the only way Tao knew this was Bem was because he'd been following so closely behind him, and the scrap of clothing around his waist was familiar.

Bem froze at the sound of his whistle, skittering back, and even with his facial features no longer resembling human, it was still very easy to read the wariness there. The sheer open expression, expecting to be hurt. And with that, it was far too easy to recognise Bem's body language, no matter what he looked like.

"She - oh, heh, whoops. _Is she all right?_" Tao asked, going over to her side.

Bem blinked, his eyebrow ridges drawing in slightly.

"_Bem?_" Maybe he couldn't talk in this form…?

Bem's sucked in a breath, and Tao could see the impressive fangs jutting out from behind his lips. "_She fainted. You... You know it's me?_" Bem's voice was a lot rougher than before, practically echoing, but that couldn't hide the sheer _hope_ shining through. "_You aren't scared of me?_"

Tao shook his head as he checked the woman's pulse and pupils, grinning. "_No._" He'd keep the fact that he was a modified human a secret for now, just in case. Who knew if this was all just a set-up? "_Why should I be - you saved her, without thinking about any reward first._"

There was the wet slurping sound again, and Tao could see waves of...it looked like heat rising off of Bem's body, his body shrinking and changing. He wasn't surprised to see Bem only had the remains of his trousers around his waist when he finished changing, there were two small horns poking out from Bem's forehead, partially hidden by his hair. Well, that definitely explained the hat. Which Bem was picking up and placing it on top of his head, making sure it was on firmly. There were ridges, maybe scales, running up his shoulders as well.

Bem studied him for a few silent seconds. "_Why..._" he started before shaking his head, a soft smile appearing on his face.

Why wasn't he scared? Why didn't he run away? There were more possibilities that flitted in Tao's mind that could have been how the question ended.

Tao heard the others land softly on a rooftop behind him - and so did Bem. With a sudden intake of breath, Bem ducked his head again, backing away to hide in the shadows.

"_Oh, hey, it's all right - they're friends of mine._"

That got Bem to raise his head. "_And they wouldn't be scared of me?_" he asked softly.

"_Heh - no._" Takeo was probably watching them through his scope already, making sure the situation was under control. Tao made a gesture, signalling to _not _headshot Bem. It wasn't one that he'd been taught at the Union, but Bem didn't seem to catch it either way. Which was interesting. If he wasn't from the Union…

Bem didn't say anything for a few seconds, his gaze changing between Tao and the others.

"_I need to go now,_" Bem said, bowing and turning to leave.

"_All right - I'll see you later,_" Tao said just as Bem rounded the corner.

Bem paused at those words. "_I hope so_."

There was the familiar sound of a person jumping up to the roof, and Tao span on his heel, hearing the sound of sirens.

He was greeted with expectant raised eyebrows when he jumped up to the rooftops.

"I think we have a new ally," he told them, slipping back into Korean easily. But it wouldn't hurt to dig around first before calling him that. See if they could find out where he'd come from and who exactly had modified him, if someone had.

The nodded to each other and after making sure Bem hadn't doubled back, started to make their way home.

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Written for No True Pair's prompt, 'Tao and Bem, not fully human'.

Much sadness. I so wanted Tao to steal Bem's hat and go, 'Oh. … Sweet! Hi! :D' and Bem to panic all over the place because 'HE CAN SEE MY HORNS'.

Tao didn't think about Jake because…there weren't any pictures of him in his fully transformed form. Yes. *cough*

I had the idea of Tao giving Bem a hair-tie but I wasn't sure if Tao would actually do that for someone he wasn't sure he could trust. XD;


End file.
